Taking charge of our own health and fitness is now much more achievable with all the amazing wearable tech we have at our fingertips. Kito+ is a smart, simple health tracker which comes in the form of a handy iPhone case. It basically measures vital functions with clinical accuracy in just a few seconds so you can monitor your health anytime, anyplace, anywhere. You can check your heart rate, skin temperature, respiration rate and much more, you can even do an ECG! Designed for iPhones 6, 6 Plus, 6s, and 6s Plus, Kito+ is modular allowing you to use the Kito+ sensor module with the case or on its own. For all you Android users, Kito+ also functions as a standalone device for Android phones. Click here to see a video of the Kito+

I’m *always* on the look out for a decent quality tablet for my kids, one that’s powerful and punchy but more to the point affordable. We are now on to our fourth one due to breakages so a £500 iPad is definitely out of the question in our gaff….bring on the Fire HD 8 from Amazon, apparently it’s 1.8 times more durable than the iPad Air 2. Boom! From the moment I opened the box I knew this was a goodie, largely due to the big stickers saying ‘certified frustration free packaging‘ how funny is that! I like it already.

It has a bright, clear picture and 1280 x 800 widescreen high-definition display. Great for watching movies on the go as we pretty much have been doing in every car journey! The handy micro SD card slot means you can expand the storage up to 128 GB as well as free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with your Fire so no running out of space in hurry, which also drives me mad!

It has a 5MP rear-facing camera for taking pics and vids and a front facing 720p camera which is good for Skype-ing. It’s the ideal tablet for watching all your fave shows on Amazon Video and Netflix as well gaming for the kids with around 300.000 apps available. Also has a handy 8 hour battery life.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is is a good value, easy to use tablet. It’s thin, it’s light and it’s powerful, what’s not to love.

Ok, it’s December tomorrow so I’m now officially letting myself get excited and blog about all things Christmas. We decorated the house this weekend with the kids, and this tree was by far the highlight of their, ok, our weekend. It’s so cool. It’s a gorgeous looking tree that comes complete with twinkly fairy lights and a star on top, but wait for it; the best bit, you can connect to it via Bluetooth. It then plays your Christmas tunes and the lights even ‘dance’ in time to the music! Or the proper name – Music Match Bluetooth Light System. It’s super kitsch at it’s best but we loved it, the kids loved it, heck even the neighbours loved it. It looks fab and it’s fun too. Great size and shape, easy to set up and no messy lights to detangle that make you mad!

School’s out today! For the whole Summer! I’m a busy mum of two…. it’s going to be a long one. But for me it’s so important that as a family we all try and unplug and ‘ditch the devices’ whenever we go away on holiday. Families nowadays are so reliant on tech which makes it even more important to reconnect with each other and enjoy your local surroundings when you have that quality time away with the kids.

That means as little tech as possible which can be tricky! No gadgets allowed at meal times, limited use of tablets and smartphones for everyone and simply enjoying each other’s company, checking out the local culture away from our hectic daily lives. There are loads of things to choose from to keep the kids occupied and sites such as Villas.com have a wide range of self-catering accommodation to suit most families. Whether you fancy swimming, playing tennis, horse riding, reading or just playing cards there really is something for everyone. Just work out where you want to go, what you want to do, have an idea of your budget and this site really does all the hard work for you.

From a recent survey, carried out by villas.com, 60% of parents said their children would put up a fight if they had to give up their devices, from iPads to laptops and smartphones (…pretty shocking) and more encouragingly 43% of parents would also like to organise more non-gadget related activities with their family. With the summer holidays just around the corner a limitless variety of off-screen activities are within easy reach of your holiday rental home. Whether you’re having a week in a French gîte or a spontaneous weekend away in a West Country cottage, you’ll be sure to find activities that don’t involve tech time which you’ll all enjoy, from cultural excursions to meals out as a family.

Not giving in to the tech temptation can be hard but do try and give it a go, it really does create the perfect family break. The kids can get back to their iPads when you get back home!!!